Toolkit: Links 2/7

The witch Nelda.

Leftern

Freddie DeBoer taken down by alien invaders. Honestly that just kind of sucks.

#AltWoke Manifesto drops, repeats the same points the Academic Left has for years, uses those points to criticize the Academic Left. More hashtags and Land quotes. Fails to understand that culture is the wrong fight.

Rightly

The year’s most important article on politics has already been written. I’ve linked it before, and will do so forever. Go read it.

A strong contender for second place (so far) came from a tweet storm (now essay) on the history of Leftist violence in the US. I disagree with the author’s analysis of power relations at the end (he notably does not take the police into account as a structurally Rightist force), but still crucial.

Bannon’s reading list is apparently… a half-baked sociological theory, Nassim Taleb, and a blog post or two? Seems weird for an article that calls him “the most well-read person in Washington”, but then again most politicos seem to be functionally illiterate. Far more interesting is the claim that Moldbug and Taleb are in contact with the Oval Office (somehow). We should be so lucky! Agonism’s first axiom: find worthy enemies.

Snakes and Laffers

Economic analysis of “bullet-proofing” magic in the Congo. Fantastic! Still doesn’t answer the authors’ question; it gives a mechanism, not a reason. Still, it’s an interesting variation on the Anthropic Principle with exactly the same conceptual errors. Don’t see how? Think about it.